§ 20-A §6602 — School food service programs

Public schools shall provide nonprofit school food service programs as follows.
1.
Participation.
A public school shall participate in food service programs.
2.
Exceptions.
The following are exempt from subsection 1, paragraphs A, B and F:
3.
Administration.
The school board shall administer and operate the food service programs. The school board:
4.
Funds.
The following shall be used to pay for the administration and operation of food service programs:
5.
Rules.
The commissioner shall adopt or amend, with the state board's approval, rules under this subchapter, including rules about the qualifications of food service programs' personnel and rules to implement the federal summer food service program for children under subsection 1, paragraph C. To the extent allowed under federal law, rules adopted under this subchapter must allow for the greatest amount of flexibility in meal times and packaging of meals to send home with students.
6.
Nutrition report.
The commissioner may assess the nutritional benefits of school lunch programs and school breakfast programs and report to the state board.
7.
Technical assistance.
The commissioner may give technical assistance to a school board concerning a food service program and may assist in training food service program personnel.
8.
Application for postponement.
An administrative unit, which had been authorized by the commissioner to postpone the establishment of a National School Lunch Program, may apply to the commissioner for a renewal of the postponement. The commissioner may grant the requested postponement provided that:
8-A.
State board review of commissioner's decisions.
A school administrative unit or interested parties may request that the state board reconsider decisions made by the commissioner in subsection 8. The state board shall have the authority to overturn decisions made by the commissioner. In exercising this power, the state board is limited by this section.
9.
Annual review of postponement.
The commissioner shall annually review the conditions in the school administrative units which have been granted a postponement. On finding that the conditions in a unit have changed so that a postponement is no longer warranted, the commissioner may require that the unit establish a National School Lunch Program at the start of the next school year.
10.
Petition by 1% of residential unit.
Whenever petitioned by 1% of the residents of a unit, the commissioner shall call a public hearing on the postponement prior to the next annual review.
11.
The state may administer.
The state may administer the programs under the United States Child Nutrition Act, Public Law 89-642 in nonprofit, private schools, provided that the State shall not be required to appropriate or distribute state funds for meals served in private schools to those private schools.
12.
Local Foods Fund.
The Local Foods Fund is established within the department. The fund is authorized to receive revenue from public and private sources. The fund must be held separate and apart from all other money, funds and accounts. Any balance remaining in the fund at the end of the fiscal year must be carried forward to the next fiscal year. The fund must be used to match $1 for every $2 a school administrative unit pays for produce, value-added dairy, protein, including seafood, or processed foods purchased directly from a farmer, person who fishes commercially, aquaculture farmer, farmers' cooperative, aquaculture farmers' cooperative, local food hub, local food processor or food service distributor in the State, to a maximum state contribution of $10,000 per school administrative unit in fiscal year 2025-26 and subsequent years or $11,000 per school administrative unit if funding is received and the school administrative unit sends a food service employee to local foods training administered by the department under subsection 13. All foods purchased using the fund must be grown, caught or produced in the State, with the exception of processed and value-added food products produced in the State, which must meet standards set by the department. The department shall create standards for allowable processed and value‑added food products produced in the State and provide guidance to school administrative units regarding which of those products are allowable for reimbursement under this subsection and subsection 12‑A. At the end of the fiscal year, the school administrative unit may provide the department with receipts documenting purchases pursuant to this subsection during that year. Reimbursement or partial reimbursement to school administrative units may only be made up to the amount available in the fund. Failure to reimburse does not constitute an obligation on behalf of the State to a school administrative unit. The department shall apply for federal grant funding to provide state contributions in excess of $5,000 per school administrative unit in fiscal year 2021-22 and subsequent years pursuant to this subsection if applicable grant funding is available. The department may accept grant funding from hospitals and other sources to provide state contributions in excess of $5,000 per school administrative unit in fiscal year 2021-22 and subsequent years pursuant to this subsection. Any available unexpended balance remaining at the end of a fiscal year may be used for training and materials related to the Local Foods Fund programs.
12-A.
Local Foods Fund reimbursement.
Reimbursement or partial reimbursement to school administrative units may be made only up to the amount appropriated to support the provisions of the Local Foods Fund as established in subsection 12. Funds appropriated for this purpose do not lapse but must be carried forward to the next fiscal year to be used for the same purpose or for training and materials related to the Local Foods Fund programs.
13.
Local foods training.
The department shall administer a program to encourage and expand the use of local foods in school food service programs. As used in this subsection, unless the context otherwise indicates, "local food" means food produced or harvested by a Maine food producer as defined by Title 7, section 212, subsection 2, and "food hub" means any business or organization that locates and obtains food from local growers and fisheries and is able to handle the logistics of supplying and delivering local foods to schools. The program must:
13-A.
Data collection; annual report to Legislature.
The department shall collect data on the usage of the Local Foods Fund under subsection 12 and the local foods training program under subsection 13 by school administrative units, including the procurement of seafood. Beginning January 1, 2026 and annually thereafter, the department shall report to the joint standing committees of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education matters and marine resources matters on program participation, seafood purchases made by school administrative units and recommendations for program improvement. Each of the joint standing committees may report out legislation related to the content of the report.
14.
Food service program personnel; position description.
The department shall develop and post a model position description for school food service program personnel on its publicly accessible website. The position description must meet the federal guidelines established under the Nutrition Education and Training Program and Team Nutrition initiative of the National School Lunch Program under 7 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 210.
15.
Food service recognition.
The department shall provide for the development of an annual competitive skill-oriented school food service recognition based on criteria developed by the department emphasizing creative and effective use of local food products to attract students to eat healthier meals and snacks and promoting community interest in good nutrition and other factors determined by the department.

Legislative History

PL 1981, c. 693, §§5,8 (NEW). PL 1983, c. 276 (AMD). PL 1983, c. 422, §18 (AMD). PL 1985, c. 263 (AMD). PL 1987, c. 395, §§A68,A69 (AMD). PL 1989, c. 875, §G1 (AMD). PL 1991, c. 9, §II3 (AMD). PL 2001, c. 447, §1 (AMD). PL 2007, c. 539, Pt. IIII, §§1, 2 (AMD). PL 2011, c. 379, §§4-6 (AMD). PL 2013, c. 445, §1 (AMD). PL 2015, c. 267, Pt. OOO, §§1, 2 (AMD). PL 2019, c. 343, Pt. NNNN, §1 (AMD). PL 2019, c. 428, §1 (AMD). PL 2019, c. 511, §1 (AMD). PL 2019, c. 511, §2 (AFF). RR 2019, c. 1, Pt. A, §18 (COR). PL 2019, c. 556, §§1-4 (AMD). PL 2021, c. 398, Pt. OOOO, §§1-6 (AMD). PL 2021, c. 426, §§1, 2 (AMD). PL 2021, c. 759, Pt. D, §§1-4 (AMD). PL 2023, c. 101, §1 (AMD). PL 2023, c. 181, §1 (AMD). PL 2025, c. 301, §§1-4 (AMD). PL 2025, c. 388, Pt. C, §§1-4 (AMD).